The Great Renewal

by Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

This week we read Parshas HaChodesh as the maftir. The parsha mainly discusses preparing for the Korban Pesach and getting ready for the month of Nissan and the Yom Tov of Pesach. Yet the parsha starts with something else entirely: “Hachodesh hazeh lachem rosh chodashim — this month shall be for you the beginning of the months” (Shemos 12:2). From here Chazal teach the mitzvah of sanctifying the new month. When witnesses saw the new moon, they would come to Beis Din and testify, and Beis Din would declare Rosh Chodesh. The pasuk also teaches that Nissan should be counted as the first month of the year.

This raises a simple question. What does this mitzvah of sanctifying the new month have to do with Pesach? It seems unrelated to preparing for the Korban Pesach, and even the idea that Nissan is the first month of the year appears to be a separate concept. Why are these ideas placed here?

There is another question. Rashi on Bereishis (1:1) says that the Torah should have started with the mitzvah of hachodesh hazeh lachem but started with the story of creation in order to teach us that since Hashem created the world He therefore has the right to give Eretz Yisrael to Klal Yisrael. The question is why should the Torah have started with hachodesh hazeh lachem?  Why is sanctifying the new month the first mitzvah given to the nation as a whole? One might think the first mitzvah should be something fundamental like loving Hashem, fearing Hashem, or “ve’ahavta l’reacha kamocha.”

The Rebbe of Slonim explains that there is a powerful message hidden in this mitzvah. Klal Yisrael counts time according to the moon, while the nations of the world count according to the sun. The sun appears steady and unchanging, but the moon constantly changes. Each day it looks different, and at the end of the month it disappears entirely before beginning again.

This teaches an important lesson about a Jew. The moon shrinks, disappears, and then returns with new light. Similarly, a Jew must constantly renew himself spiritually. Even if a person stumbles or falls, he must begin again. That is why the mitzvah of sanctifying the new moon is so central. Each month begins with renewal, teaching that a Jew cannot remain spiritually stagnant. Growth must be constant.

Every Rosh Chodesh carries this message, but Nissan in particular is the great time of renewal. The pasuk says it’s the first of the months — because Nissan is the beginning of the spiritual year. In our tefillah on the festivals we ask that Hashem bring us the berachah of the mo’adim (holidays). The Rebbe explains that this blessing refers to the spiritual strength we receive from the Yom Tov — the power to renew ourselves.

The strongest renewal of all takes place in the month of Nissan because the original Pesach was the great renewal of Klal Yisrael. Before the redemption the Jewish people were enslaved in Egypt in two ways. They were slaves physically, but they were also enslaved spiritually. Chazal say they had sunk to the forty-ninth level of impurity and their thinking had begun to resemble that of the Egyptians. Yet in a short time everything changed. Klal Yisrael left Egypt and became a new people, redeemed both physically and spiritually.

The same spiritual opportunity returns every year. When the month of Nissan arrives, Hashem gives us a special power of renewal. A person who struggles with certain weaknesses or middos can begin again. Nissan is a time when real change is possible. It says in Shir HaShirim (2:8) “Medaleig al heharim, mekapetz al hagevaos” that Hashem “skips over the mountains and jumps over the hills.” This teaches us that during Nissan when a person begins working on himself, Hashem helps him make big leaps forward.

I once heard about a Rosh Yeshiva who would ask his students a serious question on the Seder night. The Haggadah says that every person must see himself as if he personally left Egypt. What does that mean? The Rosh Yeshiva would ask each student: What did you leave behind this year? What did you improve? Perhaps someone struggled with emunah and worked to strengthen it. Perhaps someone struggled with anger, arrogance, or jealousy and made progress in controlling that middah. If someone could not point to any improvement, the Rosh Yeshiva would ask: So what are you working on now? What change are you beginning during this Pesach? This is the avodah of Nissan — to renew ourselves.

Rav Chaim Friedlander shares another explanation of the mitzvah of hachodesh hazeh lachem. When Klal Yisrael left Egypt and prepared to receive the Torah, they were being given an extraordinary role in the world. The mitzvah of sanctifying the new moon teaches that Klal Yisrael have a tremendous influence over what happens in the world.

The mitzvah itself shows this idea. Beis Din has the authority to declare the new month, and whatever Beis Din determines becomes the official month. The Gemara says (Rosh Hashanah 25a) that even if Beis Din decides, for good reason, to push the month forward by a day, that decision establishes the calendar. Even if Beis Din were to make an error, their declaration still determines the month. Beis Din can also add an entire month to the year, declaring a leap year and adding another month of Adar, and this affects many areas of halachah.

The Yerushalmi teaches something even more striking. The Yerushalmi in Nedarim (8:2) says that the decisions of Beis Din in sanctifying the month can even affect the physical reality of the world. When the date changes through the ruling of Beis Din, it can influence physical conditions as well.

Through this mitzvah the Torah is hinting to Klal Yisrael that with the giving of Torah and mitzvos they now have a powerful influence over the world. What Klal Yisrael does affects the reality of the world itself. When Klal Yisrael strengthen themselves in Torah and mitzvos, they bring brachah, protection, and hatzlachah to the world.

Every year, when Nissan and Pesach arrive, we are given renewed strength to work on ourselves. Together with that renewal we must remember that our Torah and mitzvos have tremendous power. Through them we can influence the conditions of our own lives and the conditions of the world. Whether the difficulties are in Eretz Yisrael or anywhere else in the world, Klal Yisrael have the power to bring blessing and protection through strengthening themselves in Torah and mitzvos.

This idea brings both encouragement and responsibility. If Klal Yisrael strengthen themselves spiritually, they bring blessing to the world. But if we weaken ourselves spiritually, the opposite can happen. Our actions affect the world in a real way.

The Mesillas Yesharim writes about this in the very first chapter. Every time a person performs mitzvos and comes closer to Hashem, he brings brachah to the entire world. When a person commits aveiros, even small ones, he harms not only himself but the world as well. A person should realize how much is in his hands and how great the responsibility is.

Rav Shmuel Rozovsky, the great Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh, constantly spoke to the bachurim about how privileged it is to be a ben Torah. He would tell them that bnei Torah are among the most important people in the world. But with that privilege comes responsibility. A ben Torah must recognize that every moment of his life carries meaning.

A person who learns Torah carries within himself the light of Torah. His task is to bring that light into the world. Everything he does should reflect that light — the way he speaks with his chavrusa, the way he behaves with friends, and the way he interacts with people around him. Even the ordinary actions of life — how a person speaks, eats, and conducts himself — should reflect the fact that he carries the “Light of Torah” within him and that his responsibility is to bring that light into the world.

May we be zocheh this Nissan and Pesach to truly renew ourselves, to grow in Torah and mitzvos, and through that bring brachah to the entire world.